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Thursday, January 19, 2012

I made English toffee without knowing a thing- and you can too!

I am on a candy-making kick, which is counter-productive to many of my New Year's resolutions... That aside, it is fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be. Yesterday, I made English toffee for the first time and it came out pretty much perfect, if I do say so myself. There are only 5 ingredients, things I usually have on hand in the fridge or pantry, so I might keep this in my recipe arsenal if I ever need to whip up something sweet.

So here is my recipe/tutorial. Let me know if you try it and how yours turns out!

You'll need:

Butter
Sugar
Salt
Chocolate chips
Nuts

In a mid-sized pot add equal parts butter and sugar (I never said this was going to be healthy). I used 2 cups each.

Add 1/4 tsp. salt- more if you are doubling the recipe.

Heat and stir regularly (the hotter it gets, the more you have to stir, by the end, you are stirring constantly).

As it heats, it gets thicker and darker (don't forget to stir or else it will burn!). It's going to bubble and boil a little. You'll know it is done when it becomes amber in color. (It should be about 280 degrees- if you've got a candy thermometer handy then it's worth checking, but I think you can go by color if you don't have that particular kitchen gadget).

Then pour it on to a baking sheet lined with foil-

And sprinkle it with your favorite type of chocolate chip. I used semi-sweet, since it was what I had on hand, and because with that much sugar in it already, I thought the candy was sweet enough. (I bet dark chocolate would be great- you could even use your favorite chocolate bar- chopped up)

Let the chocolate chips sit on top of the toffee and melt. Then, spread it evenly across the top-

And sprinkle on some chopped nuts. I used almonds. Classic. (and also, what I had in the house:) You can obviously skip this step if you don't like nuts, or have an allergy...

Let it cool for a few hours. While the chocolate is still soft, but not totally melted, press in the almonds to make sure they don't fall off too easily. Waiting for it to harden and cool was the hardest part. I think I lasted about two and a half hours before I cheated and threw the whole thing in the freezer for about 10 minutes. In my defense, it worked!

My Happy Place

A few years ago, I found myself needing a reminder of the lighter things in life... so I created this blog. It's a collection of things that make me happy-- the special places I've been, or want to visit, the people and animals that I love most, the books and foods and homey things that make me smile. Additionally, it is platform for me to share the excitement and hiccups of being an American expat in Edinburgh, Scotland!

May your days be Happy and your Dreams come true!

Who am I?

I am an American woman who moved from Los Angeles, California to Edinburgh, Scotland with my husband and our 3 cats (yes, you read that correctly!). I love to travel & eat & sing songs & knit & move slugs off of sidewalks so they don't get squished by big human feet.

I also think that life is what you make of it, and I'm trying to make mine awesome.